'Be cool or be cast out': Rock Hall noms Rush, Heart and Deep Purple

Thursday

Oct 4, 2012 at 7:00 PMOct 5, 2012 at 11:46 AM

Last year, when the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nominations came out, we made all sorts of bold predictions. We predicted that Guns N' Roses was inevitable, and we were right. We predicted that the explosion of female artists nominated, coinciding with the Hall's “Women in Rock” theme, would lead to a flood of inductions for female artists. On this one, we were wrong, and the only female artist inducted was the late Laura Nyro, which kind of disturbed us on a semiotic level. We predicted that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were going to be snubbed, and we were pleasantly surprised.

Clearly, our batting average isn't so great.

But here we are again, with a brand new crop of nominees, and we find ourselves once more in the prognostication game. Ah, well. It's only rock 'n' roll, but, you know, we're kind of fond. So here we are with another series examining this year's Rock Hall nods, why these musicians matter, who's a shoe-in, and who's going to be snubbed.

Right out of the gate, let's start with three nominees who are undeniably straight-up rock legends: Rush, Heart and Deep Purple.

Why they'll be inducted: Rush has been snubbed so many times by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame that it's become a running joke. The Canadian progressive rock band is, every year, at the top of every music critic's “who got snubbed by the Rock Hall” lists, including our own. And you know what? Rush deserves to be recognized. While their music on occasion can come off as a bit overblown and overly complicated, drummer Neil Peart, bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson are virtuoso musicians, influencing almost everyone who came after them. And if they had a role in rock beginning to take itself too seriously in the '70s, they were still pioneers in pushing music in new directions, in pushing the boundaries of the genre. Besides, all those “Dungeons & Dragons” geeks that used to listen to Rush in their parents' basements? Almost everyone in the recording industry was one of them, once. Some of them are even music journalists.

Mitigating Factors: Peart, who writes the lyrics, used to be extremely influenced by conservative thinker and novelist Ayn Rand, and while he's more recently made it clear that he's pretty much over her, we can't help but find it odd that Rush gets nominated the same year she's back in the public discourse. We're just saying.

Why they may be inducted: We'll admit, we were a little dubious of Heart's chances last year, but we found ourselves nonetheless a little shocked when Canadian sisters Ann and Nancy Wilson were among the women shut out completely last year. And upon reflection, we have to agree that, over the years, Heart has proved itself to be an immensely versatile band, delivering pop favorites such as “Alone” and “What About Love” alongside unrepentant rockers such as “Crazy On You” and “Barracuda.” And frankly, it's difficult to not look back and see a little Wilson sisters influence in every girl who's picked up a guitar since the mid-'70s, and really, that's rather a lot by this point. Heart deserves to be recognized as much as any other band, and if voters can get past the misconception of the band being “soft rock,” they very well may be.

Mitigating factors: Seriously, is this the year of Canadian rockers? Are Canadian rockers a thing now? Was there a memo?

Why they'll be snubbed: OK. There is no denying British rockers Deep Purple's place in the rock 'n' roll lexicon. For real, the first thing anybody who picks up an electric guitar figures out how to play are those opening chords to "Smoke on the Water." Those chords are about as pure and undiluted a shared cultural experience as we will ever, ever have. Beyond that, Deep Purple was, like Rush, one of the early adopters for pushing rock's limits with big orchestration and intricate instrumentation, and is one of the bands in the DNA of every metal band on the face of the planet. But … here's the thing. One can't help but feel that — again, like Rush — Deep Purple is unfairly carrying a lot of the onus for rock's worst excesses. A song such as 'Bad Attitude” or “Sometimes I Feel Like Screaming” may be an awesome straight-up rocker, but it's not what the band's best known for, and a lot of the songs the band is best known for kind of dwell in the “loud and monotonous” end of the rock spectrum. Deep Purple's “Space Truckin'” may very well be no more self-indulgent than, say, Rush's “By-Tor and the Snow Dog,” one can't help but suspect that, ultimately, Rush may be more endearing a choice overall in a year when testosterone-driven hard rock is, perhaps, not on the forefront of voters' minds.

Mitigating factors: Conversely, Deep Purple may be the default vote for voters who are overwhelmed by the onslaught of electronica, hip-hop and other genres which aren't generally considered “rock 'n' roll.” For a lot of people, rock is still a guitar, a bass, three chords and the truth. Deep Purple had way more than three chords, but it might be close enough for show business.

And that's round one. Keep checking in over the next few weeks as we examine all 15 nominees and make what are almost certainly erroneous predictions. Because that's how we roll. (Victor D. Infante)